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New here
Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2006 11:00 am
by LoriR
I stumbled accross this page when looking for information that might relate to my sons injury. He was in a quad accident, and his arm above the shoulder was near amputated. His artery & nerves were not severed, but the nerves were stretched. It will be 4 weeks tomorrow. Last week he started to get a little movement in his fingers and wrist. I mean, little, maybe a half centimeter. Like I said, I am really new to this injury and the lingo that goes with it. We were on vacation when it happened, in Aruba, they had to do the surgery there. We were then flown to CHOP. Right now he's in a removeable cast from his shoulder down to his fingers, so while the cast is on he can't move his fingers at all. We go to CHOP weekly, and dont' even meet with the hand dr until the 7th. Everyone says nerve injuries take a long time to recover. The orthopaedic we are seeing, says they won't even start therapy until after his bone/etc has healed. One of my questions is, if anyone had anything similar happen. What does it mean that his fingers started to move. They haven't improved in the past week, they still move about the same. We have a nurse come daily to change his dressing, and while the cast is off, he tries to move them. I know this probably means the nerve has made a connection. Is therapy needed to get them moving more, or are we still waiting for nerves to repair. I'm worried about the muscle deteriorating, because he's not doing any therapy at all yet. We don't even have a nerve conduction test scheduled for 3 months. My son is 11 years old.
Re: New here
Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2006 12:19 pm
by babyryd
Hi Lori,
My heart goes out to you - I know how scary this must be for you. My son Chase (age 8,LTBPI), was injured on a dirtbike last March, and it has changed our lives. If your son doesn't have avulsions, meaning the nerves are still attached to his cervical spine, his prognosis is far better than many others here. Nonetheless, nerve injuries heal very slowly and it's difficult to predict the outcome. Most importantly, get your son in to see a BPI specialist asap. You didn't mention where you live, but there are exceptional specialists/surgeons in the states who could help - you may have to travel. Check out the resources page. You are in the very early stages of this, so be prepared. It's wonderful that he has finger movement. Keep things from getting stiff by doing ROM (range of motion) daily moving his shoulder, arm, elbow and hand/fingers - unless of course he's still healing. While Chase didn't break any bones, he did unfortunately avulse some of his nerves and has a completely flacid left arm/hand. Keep researching, asking questions and staying positive for him - he needs that. There are several moms I chat with on a regular basis and UBPN has been a wealth of support and information. Feel free to email me directly (klick babyryd) if you'd like. Best of luck to you!
Lourdes
Re: New here
Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2006 12:55 pm
by admin
We are close to Philadephia PA, and he is suppose to be seeing Dr. Cheng who is a hand specialist. Maybe after reading some of these pages, we should be looking at different drs,
Re: New here
Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2006 7:02 pm
by admin
Where is Dr. Cheng located? Check out the resources page for more Dr's. There are some Dr's in Philadelphia & Pittsburgh but do your research, i. e. how many surgeries they have performed.
The names that come up in most forums are the Mayo clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, Dr. Mackinnon in St Louis (my husband just saw her and we were pretty impressed), Dr Wolfe in NYC and Dr Belzberg in Baltimore, MD, there are more too. Don't worry about the distance but make sure the dr is experienced.
My husband has a BPI to his left arm cause by a motorcycle accident. Some BPI heal with time but Dr MacKinnon said that if no improvement shows after 3-4 months surgery might be your only option. Keep asking questions and do your research. Good Luck
Re: New here
Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2006 8:36 pm
by admin
Hi Lori, My son was 11 when he had his accident on an atv. That was 2 years ago. He has a RTBPI (right traumatic brachial plexus injury) and that was his dominant arm/hand. Im sorry to hear about your sons accident, but we are all here to help you in any way we can. Search around here and find out all you can and feel free to ask any questions you want. You can e mail me if you like at
softballmom09@hotmail.com
Re: New here
Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2006 9:07 pm
by admin
Hi,
I am so sorry to hear of your son's injury. We live in Philadelphia, my son Stephen (22 years) suffered his injury on a motorcyle in September '05. He had surgery with Dr. Zager at the University of PA in Philadelphia in December. They tell you that patience is your best friend. It is a long recovery. Where around Phila do you live. We are in Northeast Phila. There is also a Dr. Scott Fried in Bluebell, PA. He is very through in his consultation. My son chose Dr. Zager for his surgery. If you would like to e-mail me please feel free. Diane
Re: New here
Posted: Thu Mar 02, 2006 2:42 pm
by admin
Hi Lori,
I suffered from crushed nerves following a horse riding accident 5 weeks ago. After the accident I could only wriggle my fingers and that was it. I had 2 operations to fix the broken shoulder plus they released the nerves that were being compressed by muscle. I started to get lots of really weired sensations in my arm & hand as well as a lot of pain. Slowly my little finger could bend without assistance of my other hand. I continued to bend my fingers and wrist with my other hand and now I can nearly bend my fingers into a fist. I can also use my thumb and index finger to pick up small items. Although I still have numbness in my hand the movement is definately coming back slowley and I feel more optimistic of a full recovery. I would suggest that your son continues doing exercises with his hand and wrist, including bending his fingers with his other hand. If you visit this other website they have got a list of suggested exercise -
www.tbpi-group.org.
Good luck, and I wish your son well